A new challenge
by sevenofmine
Summary: James' girlfriend Valentina and her sister Theresa are sent to a highly dangerous mission in Sacramento...This is rather an idea than a story but I'd like if you expand my thought. If you're not interested, perhaps you'd like to read the last chapter...
1. Chapter 1

**I dont think this story is very good. I wrote it on vacation in Barcelona and I didnt have a computer there, therefore I wrote it classically with pen and paper. I could have written much more to this topic and the story is very short. If you want, you can expand it with your own thoughts or imagine how it goes on and how the consequences for the Cherub agent will be at the end. I imagine a continuation of this constellation, too, although I won't write it down. You can take this story as a thought and continue this thought with your own ideas. When you want to continue this idea, just send me a message and I can give you more background information to the two Cherub agents used in this story.**

**I'm sorry that it is so difficult to read because I didnt edit it after uploading. And I didn't have a dictionary in Spain and Word doesnt autocorrect everything.**

Chapter 1

In what distant deeps or skies

Burnt the fire of thine eyes

On what wings dare he aspire

What the hand dare sieze the fire

'The Tyger' by William Blake, 2nd stanza

She closed the book and put it back on the night table. She sighed when she heard a knock on the door. 'It's open' she said and stood up. She already wore night clothes but she didn't care. James came in. 'Hey, I heard you would already fly tomorrow' he stated and closed the door behind him. 'That's right' she answered in her typical American accent which he loves so much. He gave her a short kiss on her lips. 'What, that's all?' she asked surprised and he already pushed her down on the bed. 'How long will it take?' he asked and removed her t-shirt. 'I don't know.' 'I heard it was rated as a very dangerous and risky mission. That's the reason why they chose you and your sister.' She just shrugged. 'Hey, Valentina. Don't make the same mistake Kerry did, okay?' She looked into his eyes and recognized fear. She touched his cheek. 'I can watch myself. And I promise you that I won't underestimate the situation like Kerry did.' He nodded fondling her nipples. They kept silent for a while. 'Do you think you will have already left CHERUB when I return?' she asked suddenly. 'I hope not' he responded honestly. He was already seventeen and she was mid-sixteen. 'What is your mission about?' he wanted to know. 'I'm not allowed to tell you, you know that.' She kissed him and turned around to search a condone in the draw of the night table. 'Gimme a hint!' She laughed. 'How did you find out it's a dangerous mission?' she asked and closed the draw again. 'Chloe told me. And nearly the whole campus knows that. First, Mac is mission operator, what he never does, second, ethnic committee was close to not allowing this mission unless Zara send her best agents.' 'I feel honored' she said ironically and opened the package.

On what shoulder and what art

Could twist the sinews of thy heart

An when thy heart began to beat

What dread hand and what dread feet

3rd stanza

She felt like having read the book far too often. Her sister Theresa smiled at her. For her, it wasn't that important having read the interpretation of most poems by William Blake. The sixteen year old identical twin sisters sat in the plane on their red eye flight to Los Angeles. At the airport, they hugged each other and climbed into the cars they got for their mission. Valentina drove to her new flat in one of not-the-best districts of Sacramento. Well, she was used to much worse circumstances concerning her origin and her previous missions. Now, she opened the door and started to unpack the things and clothes in the tiny flat. Now, she wasn't herself anymore, now, she was Valentina Riddle, nineteen years old, just moved to Sacramento and looking forward to work at CBI tomorrow. Having emptied her luggage bags, she sat down on her bed in the small bedroom and sighed. She had lied to James. She knew this mission would last longer than the usual ones. But Mac had wanted her and her sister as far as possible away from Great Britain, after the sisters have found out that their younger brother, with whom they haven't had any contact since they had entered MI%, had been brought into intensive care at hospital for too heavy drug and alcohol abuse. When Valentina and Theresa have been five years old, they had seen how their always drunk father stabbed their mother. Because of the many screams, the younger and the older brother had joined and must not only see their dead mother's corpse but also how their father raped both of their sisters. They have never fully recovered from the sexual abuse and despite some physical consequences like scars, they sometimes still woke up in the middle of the night having nightmares about this day. A few days later, their father has been arrested and the four were put into an orphanage. They got used to drug and alcohol abuse and for the twins, especially, prostitution. They had promised themselves to give the best as possible when in the age of six they were offered a chance to join CHERUB. Their one-year-younger and their one-year-older brother weren't even informed as their drug abuse had been too strong for Mac to even consider them the first test. However, the twins kept their promise and became the youngest black-shirt with ten years ever. Since then, nearly every of their operations have ended in a real success. Just one time, their cover had been blown up and the scar next to her belly button still reminded Valentina on her days with the Russian Mafia.

What the hammer, what the chain

In what furnace was thy brain

What the anvil, what dread grasp

Dare its deadly terrors clasp

4th stanza

The time passed and both twins have made more progress than they ever dreamed of in this mission. As senior agents, they were allowed not to have a direct operator around which would also have been far too risky for that mission. Valentina sat on her bed and waited for her 'boyfriend' to come home. She didn't love him, of course. She hated his penchant for Bach music and for tea. They had their differences but she had gained his trust, and maybe even his love, so far. He was incalculable and hard to estimate. She heard the door opening and closing again. The man entered the small bedroom and kissed her very deeply. He undid his long, black cloak and put it away. 'I have visited our friend today' he whispered with his slimy voice into her ears. She smiled and tried to be enthusiastic. 'I assume you decided what to do with Kristina' she said and hoped that whatever it was, MI5 allowed her to proceed. 'She knows too much' he explained. She nodded. She hasn't seen his face but Valentina's- If Kristina or anybody knew that she was a mole in Lisbon's team, it could end her mission immediately. 'You wanna kill her?' she asked while he slowly opened her blouse. 'More than that' he hissed. She hated his slimy and false voice. 'You may torture her as much as you want. I know you'd like it.' He kissed her once more and she remembered the last time she tortured information out of a victim. She hoped that CHERUB didn't kick her out for this, she was one of their best agents and had a lot of more rights and free space to play in. But Kristina being tortured by an undercover agent would be hard for MI5 to explain if somebody found out. She smiled and he opened her bra. She looked into his black eyes, as deep black as hears. He was a bit more than six feet tall, thin but muscular, well, more or less, he had dark brown-black, short hair and he was perfectly shaven. She had tried to persuade him to grow at least a three-days-beard but until now, without success.

When the stars threw down their spears

And watered heaven with their tears

_Did he smile his work to see_

_Did he who made the lamb make thee_

5th stanza

Valentina looked at Kristina Frye. She had been tied up to this chair for nearly ten hours now and for over twenty-four hours she was in this old shed a bit outside of the town Sacramento. It was past midnight and Valentina had hoped that he didn't want CBI t find her today. She kissed him again and stepped forward to Kristina who looked at her with widely opened eyes. Valentina didn't believe in God but it was still a reasonable question if he created both Lamb and Tyger, good and evil. Was it actually equal, did he like to see the creation of the Tyger as much as of the Lamb? 'Betrayer!' Kristina hissed and tried to look respectless. Valentina had to smile. She could see the fear in her eyes. She hated the decision she had to make. It was too early to break up the mission now and arrest him. She had to show him how cruel she could be and hoped that MI5 would only punish her with laps instead of kicking her off immediately. She had no other options and pulled out a dissecting tool she once bought from a dealer who had broken into an Autopsy to rob knifes and reception notes. 'No' Kristina whispered when Valentina came closer to her. 'Please, don't!' she screamed. 'Screaming brings you nothing' he said in his cold and ugly voice. He was very calm and self-disciplined. 'She knows no mercy. Therefore you might have some last words to tell the world?' he added. Valentina looked up into the eyes of fear and scare and started. Kristina screamed as loud as she never has done before but he was right. There was no point. When Valentina was finished, he hugged her deeply. They both looked at the woman lying on the floor. She was still breathing but her look and glance was empty now. She just lay on the ground. Her blouse was sprinkled with dark brown and she had uncountable deep scratched and stabbings by the knife. She lay in a puddle of blood which was growing but not growing fast enough to release her from the pain. Valentina licked the blood from the knife. 'Her soul has left our world' he said smilingly and kissed his far younger girlfriend. 'I need a change before I go to work' she mention with a look at her red sprinkled clothes. 'Will you take her here for a while?' He shook his head. 'CBI will find her tonight. Alive, I promise.' She nodded, kissed him again and left the small shed outside the city to drive back downtown.

**Please review (I know my grammar isnt that good...)**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

'We have found out where our dear Jackson hides' Rigsby explained when Lisbon entered the office. She nodded. 'Okay, let's go' she said and the team put on their bullet-proof vests. Twenty minutes later they arrived at the empty _war_ehouse in an abandoned commercial area. Silently, they gave each other signals. Lisbon kicked the door open and pointed the gun at the first person she noticed inside. 'Hand up! CBI!' she screamed as loud as she could and heard Rigsby and Riddle yelling the same. Then she froze seeing the only two persons who had been in this room. First, there was Jackson Rodriguez, their suspect for a drug motivated murder. Next to him, there stood a young woman who looked exactly like Valentina. Lisbon looked over to Valentina who only bit on her lips. 'Okay, put your hands on your back' Lisbon ordered irritated and Rigsby and Cho put the two criminals in handcuffs. 'Do you want to explain this?' Lisbon turned over to Valentina who put back her gun. 'Well, may I introduce you my lovely sister Theresa?' she said when Rigsby and Cho brought the criminals to the car. 'What does she have to do with our suspect Jackson?' the boss asked angrily. 'Better you ask her yourself. I don't know in what she's involved now' Valentina lied. Actually, it wasn't planned for Theresa to get arrested. It would be hard for CHERUB to get her out again. Lisbon sighed and they all drove back to CBI HQ.

Lisbon was on the way to interrogation room when the director stopped her. 'I heard you arrested Valentina's identical twin sister?' he asked curiously. Lisbon nodded. She didn't want any argument right now. 'I am sorry but Valentina never told me that she had a sister or a…criminal sister.' 'I know. But it's funny you never found out yourself. She's really known in the underground scenes.' Lisbon looked confused. He gave her a file. 'That's the Theresa Riddle file. You'll find surprising things in there. She grew up with her sister in Chicago in an orphanage but since Valentina works here, she also moved to Sacramento. She started as contract killer and now controls half of the Western coast organized crimes. No big deal doesn't go through her fingers. She owns the main drug cartels around, controls the illegal arm traffic and the organization for any crimes like most of the planned murders.' 'Great, may I interrogate her now?' she asked nerved. It was no wonder Valentina never told her. 'Be careful. After what I heard, she is cruel, violent, knows neither respect nor any borders or limitations.' 'I'll remember that' Lisbon said and passed the director. She entered the interrogation room. Theresa looked up from the table when Lisbon sat down. She opened the file she had just received. She skimmed for base information and was impressed how a nineteen year old girl could become so different from her identical twin sister. She sighed and closed the file when she had seen enough. Theresa waited patiently. 'What did you have to do with Jackson Rodriguez?' Lisbon finally started to ask. 'He wanted me to find a good hiding because he knew you were after him…and he wanted me to kill someone' Theresa answered directly. 'Who?' 'His name is Marco Bennett. Jackson had an open bill with him. I don't know any specific things about it.' 'Why do you tell me that?' 'Why not?' 'When did you become…different from your sister?' Lisbon asked with difficulty and hesitation. Theresa smiled slightly. 'I don't know…' 'Why?' 'I was attracted by evil as she by working for police.' 'Did you become criminal _because _she became a cop?' 'No, my decisions were all made independently.' 'How do you get along with each other?' Lisbon asked and shortly looked around into the mirror. The whole team including Valentina stood there and watched. 'Under those circumstances, quite well.' Lisbon nodded. 'You know that I have to arrest and imprison you for…well, murder, torture, drug trade…and everything else.' Theresa nodded slightly. 'Great, FBI called to bring you over. They have some questions for you, too…How much is Valentina involved in-' 'Lisbon asked with concern. 'She isn't involved into anything' Theresa directly explained. 'She has nothing to do with any business of mine (?). She knows nothing that could be of use for FBI.' Lisbon nodded relieved.

Behind the mirror Van Pelt asked: 'Does she say the truth?' 'No' Jane responded directly. 'Thanks, Jane' Valentina said not very enthusiastically. Suddenly, Cho's cell phone rang. 'Funny, an anonymous call' he mentioned and answered the call. It didn't take very long until he informed the team: 'Someone anonymous told me about an abduction victim that can be found alive.' 'Did he tell you where?' Rigsby asked. 'Yes.' The team looked at each other. 'Great' Jane said smilingly. Valentina knew that this smile wasn't going to last long.

'Is it true that you control the whole organized crime system on West coast?' Lisbon asked in disbelief. This woman was only nineteen. You didn't think she was a killer when you saw her. She was tall, far too thin, had long, deep black, curly hair, she was pale and had deep black eyes. 'Well, I have help, of course.' She seemed to be too shy but perhaps she was just nice toward the team as her sister was part of it. 'You have men working for you. One boss for drugs, one boss for arm trade, one boss for killings' Lisbon read from the file. 'And you watch them' she added. Theresa nodded slightly. She was a very calm person, self-disciplined. Lisbon was impressed how she had worked herself up in the hierarchy in just half a year – and this as a woman.

Suddenly, Jane came in. Lisbon turned around. 'Cho just got an anonymous call about an abduction victim' he informed her.

The team was walking toward the elevator. 'Did he say any name?' Lisbon asked confused about the call. 'No, just that someone who has been abducted recently can be found at this shed. Not who he was or who the victim was. Just the promise the victim is alive' Cho said (sic!). 'A woman or a man?' Valenitna asked. 'Didn't say that either.' They stopped and waited for the elevator. They all wore bullet-proof vests but only Valentina knew they were unnecessary. 'What about his voice?' Van Pelt asked. 'Kind of…slimy and cold' Cho answered without any reactions, as usual. Jane got a feeling which told him that whatever they were going to find, it was not good. 'What's up, Jane?' Lisbon asked. 'Oh, nothing.' 'Jane?' 'I don't have a good feeling…'

They all followed Rigsby's scream. The team gathered in front of the shed and entered. They walked around Rigsby and saw her. Kristina lay on the floor, her eyes widely opened, except for bra and underpats, she was naked. Her skin was red by dried blood and this red paint was spilled all over the floor. Jane ran toward her and felt her pulse. 'She is _still alive_' he said and began to speak to her. She didn't react. She stared at the ceiling, didn't move. She was alive, but not in this world anymore. Van Pelt called the ambulance while Lisbon kneed down to Jane and tried to make him understand that Kristina was gone. Rigsby, Cho and Valentina gathered in front of the wall and stared at the huge, bloody, laughing smiley. Beneath it, there was a letter, printed by a computer. Valentina put it into an evidence plastic bag. The three agents read:

_'Dear Mr. Jane, this is what happens when someone plays with me. You knew that it would come so far. Didn't you tell her? But she told me loads of things about you. Ask her, she won't tell you anything about me._

_Did he smile his work to see?_

_Did he who made the lamb make thee?_

_Sincerely, Red John'_

'What does it mean? Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the lamb make thee?' Rigsby asked. 'In Blake's poem he asks if God created both, Tyger and Lamb and if so, does he love both of them in the same way?' Valentina explained. 'I analyzed this poem in High School' she added. Actually, she was forced to read a 500-page-interpretation of all of Blake's literally work and to be honest, it really helped her to understand Red John. Cho nodded: 'Above you can see the smile.' The typical, bloody smiley stared at the agents.

About twenty minutes later, the ambulance arrived and as the newest and youngest agent, Valentina accompanied Kristina to the hospital. She didn't fear that Kristina knew who she really was, therefore she had tortured her long enough. She just hoped that Mac wouldn't find out that it had been her. As one of the best agents on campus, the two sisters were allowed to do a lot during missions, like eg consuming low amounts of drugs although it was against campus rules and as long as it did not heavily endanger the mission. Last time James has called her, he told that her current mission was the most famous on campus because the twins were on a highly risky mission alone in America while their mission operator stayed in the UK. In additional, Mac was the former head and no mission operator, usually. Valentina waited I the corridor while the doctors brought Kristina to intensive care station. Time went by and the doctor came back. Valentina tried to show emotions when he told her that Kristina was under shock of torture and that she probably was never be able to speak again. Exactly, what Valentina had hoped. She remembered those days when she still had had feelings but she felt like having lost them after watching her father killing her mother and abusing her and her sister. The doc went away and she called Van Pelt to tell her the news. The team hasn't come any further yet and there wasn't any useful sign that could reveal anything about Red John. Valentina was told to stay at hospital overnight and around nine o'clock Jane joined her in the waiting room. Silently, they drank coffee and waited . Jane told her more about Red John and his own family. She listened carefully and swore to herself that before MI5 would catch RJ, she would give Jane the chance for revenge.

Lisbon watched her agents working. It was after nine and Jane was already gone. She turned around when the boss came in. 'I've got bad and good news.' 'First bad.' Lisbon decided. 'The good one is that FBI was here to bring Theresa Riddle to their Central' he said ignoring Lisbon. 'And the bad one?' Rigsby asked. 'She escaped on the car drive.' 'How?' Lisbon asked surprised. 'No idea. FBI doesn't tell anything. Actually, no wonder when they embarrassed themselves so much.' The boss went away and they all didn't know that MI5 had arranged the escape of Theresa.

Jane kept visiting Kristina the following days but she did not move or react to anything the doctors or Jane tried. She was alive but her soul has left the earth. Jane would never admit but at night, he cried. Not only because of his family, but now because of Kristina. Sometimes, she had been a pain in the ass but he had developed feelings for her. But she hasn't realized what Jane had had to learn six years ago. And now, she did. 'Kristina, Kristina, can you hear me?' he tried once more. 'I…I am sorry. I promise you that'll find him and that…I will punish Red John for what he did.' Suddenly, her head turned around and she directly looked into his eyes. 'Not him…her' she moaned silently and her vision got all blurry again. She closed her eyes. 'Her? Who?' Jane asked excited. She didn't say anything. There must have been a trigger, he thought. A psychological trigger, like those physical signals that started or ended a hypnosis. 'Red John!' he screamed. 'Her' Kristina muttered. 'Who?' Jane bent over to her. 'Does Red John have a girlfriend? 'Yeah' he heard from her mouth. 'Tell me, who?' But whatever Jane tried, Kristina remained silent, forever.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Time passed on and it got warmer outside. Summer was about to arrive, another summer Valentina and Theresa didn't spend with their friends at CHERUB. Valentina could barely call James as it was too risky. She reported once a week her progresses to Mac and continued pretending to love the crazy serial killer Red John. Actually, he was quite okay for her. He was human despite his murders, he was calm, strong and didn't look that bad, rather handsome. What she couldn't stand was his preference for classical music, especially Bach and Schubert but also that he loved drinking tea. Although Valentina lived in Britain, she never like hot drinks, neither tea nor coffee. For staying awake, she preferred Diet Coke as coffeine injection. He spent most of his time watching Jane through the cameras which Valentina has installed in his house and office. Impatiently, she waited for a sign from Mac when MI5 finally arrested Red John as he had killed two secret service agents about two years ago. But Mac unfortunately always had to tell her that the MI5/MI6 agents who had planned this operation, wanted more information about RJ and his men working for him.

It was late night and Valentina and Jane sat in her car observing the house of a suspect of their current case. They talked about everything and finally about RJ whom they haven't heard from for weeks. 'What has he done to you?' Jane asked suddenly. 'What?' Valentina was surprised. 'What did he know? It's obvious. There is something personal. Did he kill your boyfriend?' 'No!' There's nothing perso-' 'Don't lie to me' Jane said sharply. 'You wanted into Lisbon's team with a reason. And this reason was Red John.' Valenitna sighed. She had to admit that he was really good. She thought about what she had sworn to herself: That Jane would get his revenge. 'Wanna share your thoughts?' Jane asked impatiently. Suddenly, Valentina started the motor and drove away from the suspect's house. 'Hey! Where are we going?' But Valentina didn't respond until she stopped the car in front of her own house. 'You wanna have revenge, don't you?' she asked Jane. 'For your wife and your kid. And for everything else he did to you.' Jane nodded slightly not getting what she was up to. 'Then get it' she said and nodded to her flat. 'What do you mean?' he asked unsure. She smiled when she pulled out a knife from her jacket. 'I pretended to love Red John and perhaps he loved me. I am an undercover agent working for a special unit of British MI5. My target is to get to know Red John and to gather as much information as possible.' She coughed for breathe. 'He is inside my flat. Go there and kill him. I'll cover you.' She held up the knife. He just stared at her. 'You can kill him in his style and we cover this as one of his murders. Nobody knows what he looks like, therefore nobody will know who he is. And nobody will find out that you were the one who released the world from this monster' she explained. He took the knife. 'Have you had sex with him?' he asked. She nodded. Without another word he left the car. Valentina waited for five minutes until she walked over to her house. She entered and did not hear anything. She opened the door to her bedroom. First, she saw the smiley staring at her, the one RJ had painted on the wall when he had moved in. He has used her blood for doing so and she had volunteered to gain his trust, to pretend to be a crazy and mad woman. Then she noticed Jane standing next to the bed, staring at the corpse on the bed, holding a bloody knife in his right hand. Red John lay on the bed, he was covered with blood, multiple scratched and deep cuts. His glance was empty, directed to the ceiling. 'Yes, I smile my work to see; he who made the smile(y), I made (killed/ ended) him' Jane muttered. 'Are you feeling better?' Valentina asked. He turned around and with his ocean blue eyes, he looked into her deep black ones. He nodded. 'Yes, I feel…satisfied.' She smiled. 'We'll bring him somewhere he can be found and cover it as RJ's next victim. I know how to copy his style' she proposed. 'What about your MI5 mission? They'll notice.' 'I know, I'll tell them I killed him and I can live with the consequences.' 'No, I can't allow-' 'It is alright. I'm a senior agent and I have more rights than just a usual agent. I can handle this.' 'You're nineteen. You're too young-' She smiled. 'I'll explain when we carry away this body' she promised and about three hours later they returned to the suspect's house. Nobody has noticed their absent.

They were called to the crime scene next morning. The team walked around and Lisbon directly determined it as Red John's work. 'How long do you want to keep this mythos alive?' Jane muttered into Valentina's ear. 'Until I killed all of his men. He was better organized than you think.' He nodded. 'What do you think?' Lisbon asked. 'Obviously Red John' Jane answered promptly. 'Just look at his smiley. It can't be a fake' he pointed at the bloody, grinning face on the wall which Valentina had painted as a perfect RJ smiley.

It was late evening and Jane was impressed how easily Valentina had gathered every man related to Red John and his business. It were around twenty people waiting for instructions in the empty _war_ehouse. 'What do you plan?' Jane asked the sixteen year old girl next to him. She smiled. 'Easy' he answered and grabbed the submachine gun she has hidden behind her back.

'I doubt it was Red John.' 'Most of those men are somehow related to him.' 'He wouldn't kill his own men.' 'Perhaps someone took revenge.' 'Die Passion des stillen Rächers _(The passion of the silent revenger)_.' 'Shut up, Jane. This is not funny!' 'But who was able to bring them all together first and then kill them?' 'somebody who must known Red John very well.' 'Or he suggested a betrayer and as nobody said something he killed them all.' 'Could be possible. He doesn't take any risks.' 'But now he is alone. He has no one and nowhere to hide, it must be more easy to catch him.' 'He is like a ghost. Ghosts are never easy to catch.' 'You're a medium, you can get in contact with ghosts.' 'I have never been a medium.' 'Then pretend to, as you did.' 'I think Red John will appear when he wants to.' 'And encounter us in a duel? Like in an old western?' 'It's not funny. We're talking about a cruel and violent serial killer.' 'Who just has lost all of his men.' 'That won't stop him.' 'Well, the only border he knows is death.' Jane and Valentina looked at each other. Red John already has passed the last border. And he could never ever turn around and come back again.

'What immortal hand or eye

_Dare_ frame thy fearful symmetry?' Jane asked. The next week he took off and went on vacation. Finally, he could enjoy it again. Finally, when he had gotten his final revenge.

'Revenge is a dish best served cold'

-Old Klingon Proverb


End file.
